Tamil serial started to broadcast television series in the 1990s. Today’s format of 100–500 episodes started in the 2000s. The television series industry has played a pivotal role in increasing Tamil popularity in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. They are also broadcast in other parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and North America.

They are usually shown Day Time on Tamil television channels and start at 11:00 to 15:00, Early Fringe start at 18:00 to 19:59 and every night at primetime start at 20:00 to 23:00. A series will run for about three or four years. It may air five or six episodes a week, the pattern usually being Monday through Friday or Monday through Saturday.

A Most channel will air five to sixteen soap operas simultaneously at any given time. Because they attract the most viewers, each channel competes for the most popular stars.

Tamil television serials are usually helmed by one director,one written by one screenwriter, thus having a distinct directing style and language, unlike American television series, where often several directors and writers work together. Series are likely to have only one season, with 1–500 or 1-1000 episodes. Mini series may be longer, with 100 to 200 episodes, but they also run for only one season.

The 11:00-15:00 to 17:30-23:00 time slot is usually for daily dramas that run from Monday through Friday or Monday through Saturday. Dramas in these slots are in the telenovellaformat, rarely running over 500 episodes.